2007: A review

As I think back over the past year, I can definitely say that 2007 was all about change and learning. Life changes - and learning how to deal with and handle those life changes. One year ago, I would have never imagined the things that have happened. Good and bad - but I know that God was present through each and every experience, building me up and guiding me through. Here's a look at what happened in 2007.

March 27, 2007: My great-aunt, Caroline Ashley, passed away unexpectedly. She was an amazing lady who never married and lived alone in the 'Ashley Homeplace' (aka the home that my great-grandparents raised her and my grandfather in. She went to live there in the 1970s after they passed away). "Sister," as we called her, was an amazingly strong woman. She took care of the entire property and herself and four cats up until the day she died. She had a love for photography and carpentry, which she was amazing at both. Sister had a heart attack and passed away in her home - my grandfather found her when we hadn't heard from her in a few days. That was a huge shock to our family - we loved Sister dearly. If that wasn't life-changing enough - I learned how to 'make arrangements' for a deceased loved one. I wanted to be right there and learn everything there is to know. Sounds a little crazy - but I wanted to know. So anyway, we buried Sister and have been caring for her cats and the Ashley Homeplace ever since.

Easter Sunday, 2007: Dad and I make an offer on a house in Athens for me to live in. I needed to get out of my apartment renting situation - and he wanted to make an investment in a piece of property. So we found the perfect home and made an offer. The sellers agreed and we got the phone call that day that we were homeowners. What an exciting day!

May 7, 2007: I found out that I have a B-12 deficiency that has been causing a lot of health problems for me. This was unusual because people don't typically begin to become deficient in this vitamin until they are well over the age of 60. They discovered that I am unable to absorb B-12 in my stomach, so they put me on B-12 shots.

May 17, 2007: My little sister Lisa leaves for her study abroad trip to Italy for the summer.

May 19, 2007: Tim's younger brother, Phillip, gets married.

May 30, 2007: Dad and I close on the house. I become an official homeowner! I was so excited that day - nothing at all could have ruined it. Another life-changing experience, and I enjoyed every minute!!

June 9, 2007: I moved out of my apartment and into my new house. Such a happy, but tiring day!

July 6, 2007: My Aunt Betty and my grandmother, Nana, stop by Athens on the way back from their Hawaiian cruise. Nana had been to all of the United States except for Hawaii. So she and Aunt Betty made the trip and had a marvelous time. Nana was so happy! So then when they got back, they wanted to come see my new house, and they did. Lisa and Erica and Dad also stopped by to see Nana and Aunt Betty while they were there. Lisa showed us all pictures of her trip to Italy, of which Nana really enjoyed. This would be the last time that my father and my sisters would see Nana alive.

July 9, 2007: For some reason, very early in the morning about 1 a.m. I decided that I needed to be in Brunswick, Ga. where my Nana lived. After leaving my house a few days earlier - Aunt Betty took Nana directly to the hospital down there because Nana was having some intense pain in her legs. Now, Nana had had cancer for about three or so years, first in her breast and then in her liver and lungs, I think. The doctor had it mostly under control for awhile - but then she started to slowly go downhill. So they put her in the hospital and at first had thought maybe she broke her hip on her Hawaii trip. Then we got the news that she was possibly in congestive heart failure.

Something told me early that morning to get up and go, so I did. I left my house at 6 a.m. and drove from Athens to Brunswick in record time. Got there about noonish, and went straight to the hospital. Nana was very weak and Aunt Betty was very tired. Friends were stopping by the hospital room to see Nana - and she just smiled and loved seeing every one. But we could all tell she was going downhill. As the day progressed, Nana continued to go deeper downhill - and then her oncologist came by to see her and brought the news that it was time to start thinking of Hospice. The cancer had spread into her bones and that was causing the intense leg pain. Her kidneys were failing. Her heart was getting weaker. She was having a hard time breathing. Aunt Betty and I stayed with her every second, even well into the night. We couldn't bear to leave her.

July 10, 2007: About 3:30 in the morning, Aunt Betty sang Amazing Grace to Nana. Her lungs were filling up with fluid, and she was beginning to lose consciousness. Aunt Betty had one hand, I had the other. We finally sat down in some reclining chairs that the nurses brought us and would rest our eyes. We had not been to sleep at all - we couldn't' bear to leave Nana or go to sleep. Something was telling us that she wouldn't make it through the night. So we were reclining in our chairs literally inches from Nana's hospital bed. I was a little closer than AB to the bed because of the way it was positioned - and I held Nana's hand. AB would say "Joy, check to see if she's breathing" every so often, just to make sure. I would do so. Around 5:15 I had checked on her, and then sat back down and nodded off slightly. About 5:20 a.m., I woke up again and checked. This time she was not breathing. I ran down the hall to get the nurses. A flurry of doctors and nurses came in to check and see if she was alive. She was not. My Nana had gone home to see Jesus. I know in my heart that she was indeed ready. She had done everything she had wanted to do in her life. Nana was ready to rest. I had the deepest sorrow - and yet the greatest joy - being right there when the good Lord came to get my Nana. You are never quite the same when you watch someone pass away. The fact that I was right there holding her hand gives me the greatest peace that I have ever known. I will miss my Nana - but watching her suffer was more than I could bear. I wanted her to be at peace. This was by far one of the greatest and most difficult life lessons I have experienced thus far in my (at the time) 24 years of existence. I love you, Nana.

Once again, just as I had months earlier, I was making funeral arrangements for a loved one. Also, by the time my Mom and Nana's other daughter, Nancy, and her family arrived - there was drama. There was sadness. There was craziness. I was the one in charge. I was the neutral ground in this situation - I won't go into it, but not all of Nana's children get along. I pulled myself together and told everyone where to be, what to wear and when to be there. AB and I took care of everything. Nana's funeral was absolutely beautiful - she really would have been proud. Also the outpouring of love from the folks in Brunswick was overwhelming. I felt the love and devotion that Nana and Granddaddy had felt all those years with their church family. You won't find better people than those at First Baptist Church in Brunswick, Ga. They were amazing. Thank you all - for everything. Friends of Nana and friends of Aunt Betty were amazing as well. Miss Mary and Mr. Cliff - most notably - thank you for being there every step of the way.

July 27 - August 5, 2007: The time had come to clean out Nana and Granddaddy's little house in Brunswick. Now, keep in mind, Nana was of the depression era. She kept EVERYTHING. And when I say EVERYTHING, I mean every single solitary thing that she ever touched. That little 900-something sq ft house was packed to the hilt. It was time to clean it out so that Aunt Betty could sell it as part of the estate. Aunt Betty had no other people to help her (as I mentioned, the siblings don't get along) and so I offered to go down and help. I took a week off of work and drove on down to get this show on the road.

In a little under 10 days, and with the help of wonderful friends Mary and Cliff Jackson and Patty Jo and Orrie King, we cleaned out that house. We went through everything - and even discovered money that Nana had rolled away in plastic bags and stashed and apparently forgot. We found documents and pictures and other things that hadn't seen the light of day in years. We found Nana's wedding dress, and Granddaddy's jacket that he wore when he was in the Navy, among many other things. Memories upon memories kept unfolding. We finally organized things and decided to have an estate sale toward the end of the week. We did - and sold a good many things. Had a pretty good turnout. Mary and Cliff were there with us in the trenches every single day. They also were gracious enough to let me stay in their guest bedroom that week, and then AB in the other bedroom later on the week. Patty and Orrie came down for the estate sale - and Mr. Orrie and I learned how to 'wheel and deal' with the folks who came to buy things from the sale. Even in light of how hard all this was - we all had a good time. I made some friends - friends that I know I will stay in touch with for a very long time. I even cracked a smile from Mr. Cliff, aka Superman, a few times. We were all exhausted by the end of the week, but we got everything out. I drove home on the 5th with a U-Haul trailer behind my SUV full of stuff. Another life-changing experience that I will never soon forget. Thank you - all of you - who helped Aunt Betty and I that week. We couldn't have done it without you!!!!!!

August 11, 2007: I turned 25. My car insurance went down, ever so slightly. I had an amazing day at the lake house with Dad, Tim, Papa and Grandmother. One of the best birthdays I can ever remember.

September 6, 2007: I find out from my pulmonologist that I am allergic to everything under the sun, including dust, dust mites, ragweed, mold, etc. etc. I transform my home into a explicitly clean and dust mite-free environment. That took some doing, let me tell you.

September 8, 2007: My cousin Steve Holmes passes away unexpectedly from a brain anuresym. Love you Alex, Erin, Spencer & Bobby! Papa and Grandmother's (my dad's parents) 61 wedding anniversary was also this day.

September 12, 2007: A friend of mine (who has been having similar health symptoms as me for the past three years) told me about a new blood test that they ran on her called the Stricker CD57 panel. I begged my primary care doctor to do this test - and they finally ran it. This was the test that indicated I had Lyme Disease. My primary care doc had no idea how to read the test - so they referred me to an infectious disease doctor in Atlanta.

September 22, 2007: My college roommate, Rachael, gets married to Les Martin. Tim's fraternity brother, Adam McKinley, gets married. Our other friends, Jennifer and Aaron Turcott, also get married. We couldn't make it to Jenn and Aaron's wedding, but I went to Rachael's wedding, and Tim went to Adam's wedding. It was a full day.

Also on this day, a fellow I went to middle and high school with, Josh Reeves, was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. His first son was born just 24 hours before he was killed. He was really an awesome guy.

October, 2007: Got word that one of my all time favorite people and my former college professor, Dr. Ginger Carter Miller, was possibly suffering from Ovarian cancer. She had surgery and pulled through and it turns out that she does not have it. Thank the good Lord for miracles!!! Love you Carter!

October 23, 2007: My first initial visit with Dr. Sudha Reddy (infectious disease) in Atlanta. Thus the Lyme Disease saga begins. (See other blogs for more info).

October 27, 2007: Tim and I celebrate our 3 year anniversary. Another happy moment :)

November 24, 2007: Tim's grandfather, Mr. Dale Zingleman, passes away unexpectedly. "Bop Bop," as the grandchildren called him (Tim actually called him that when he was little, and the name stuck), was one helluva man. He served in WWII and received two purple hearts and a bronze star. He was a man of very few words, but when he spoke, you listened. He was the father of five children and the grandfather of I think 12. I really had enjoyed getting to know him over the last few years. I love Tim's family so very much - it broke my heart to see them in pain over Bop Bop's death - he was the only grandfather Tim and his brothers and sister had ever known. I stayed for a few days and helped out any way I could.

December 1, 2007: I officially applied to the Community Counseling master's program at the University of Georgia. In 2007, I figured out that I want to be a counselor one day - a faith based family counselor. So I am taking the steps to try to acheive that dream. I'll hear back from the program as to whether or not I was accepted around March 2008.

December 19, 2007: As I stood in my kitchen at my house, a couple of rednecks stole my weedeater out of my garage and attempted to steal other items I had in the garage. See earlier post.

I realize this was overall a super super long post (one I had to keep returning to over the past few days to finish), but here is the main things that happened in 2007 in my world. Like I mentioned in the beginning of the post, I have learned so very much this year, good and bad. I would not take any of it back for anything - if I learned anything specific this year it was that God's timing is always perfect. Always. He knows what is best for me and my life - and He will always guide me down the road I need to go. Thank you, Lord God, for everything I have learned this year.

2007 is a year that I will never soon forget.

Much love,
Joy